


Quint's Angstober 2018

by QuintessenceA



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abandonment, Angst, Animal Death, Character Death, Child Abuse, Doomfanger - Freeform, Drinking to Cope, Emergency Hospitalization, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Everyone's sad, Hurt No Comfort, Kidnapping, Loss, Medical Experimentation, More dead children, Nacarat Jester OC, Skeleton Pregnancy (Undertale), Swapfell Papyrus (Undertale), Tags Are Hard, Trauma, Underfell Alphys (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale), Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Yandere Papyrus (Undertale), no happy endings here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 10:00:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 19,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16195241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuintessenceA/pseuds/QuintessenceA
Summary: No fluff! Only tears! A collection of sad one shots. Bittersweet is the absolute best it's gonna be.Skeletons who currently have had a bad time: Sans (a lot), Red, Blueberry (a lot), Slim, Stretch/Honey, Papyrus, Deity!Sans, TwinUS!SansInspired by GriiffinWrites, who did it first, and you should definitely go check them out! https://archiveofourown.org/users/GriiffinWrites/pseuds/GriiffinWrites





	1. Introduction!

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [It's Raining Somewhere Else](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15994385) by [GriiffinWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GriiffinWrites/pseuds/GriiffinWrites). 



Welcome to Quint's Angstober!

~~To help fight the terrible curse of Writer's Block I'm going to write sadness everyday! Items will be posted after editing.~~

~~Edit: So I've been writing garbled messes everyday, even if I'm not posting, so that's something. Going to keep going! I'm posting the upcoming list here so that I'll force myself to finished the editing and post the damn things!~~

~~STILL GOING! WOO!~~

You know what? Angstober isn't a month, it's a way of life!! I'll put all stories here that stay under 5k. More than that and I'll pull them for new uploads. I'm having a great time >:)

1:  
Introduction!  
Hey, that's where you are now!  
Featuring- Quint

2:  
Something Oddly Sweet  
Sans (UT!Sans) and Slim (SF!Pap)

3:  
Shore and Steady Wins the Ray-ce  
Underfell Sans

4:  
For the LoVe of Science  
Underfell Alphys and child OC, Nacarat Jester

5:  
Swapping Resets and Nightmares  
Underswap Sans and Papyrus

6:  
Why Even Bother?  
Classic Sans and Papyrus, and general Grillby group

7:  
Failing Lamp in the Dark  
Deity Sans

8:  
A Barrel of Fun  
Blueberry and Honey (US!Bros)

9:  
Let's All Ride the Ducks  
UT!Sans in a Bad Brother alternate universe

10:  
The Accident, pt. 1  
Cherryberry- Red (UF!Sans) and Blueberry (US!Sans)

11:  
The Accident, pt. 2  
Red (UF!Sans) and Stretch (US!Papyrus)

12:  
A Walk from the Park  
UT!Sans, a kitten, and a human girl OC

13  
Sans (Puppet, Mary's Theme parody)  
A musical interlude.

14:  
The Core Labs, pt 1  
UT!Frisk, alternate timeline

15  
Trick or Treat (Finders Keepers)  
Yandere!Pap and bro, US!Pap and twin US!Sans'

16  
The Cat's (Lack of) Meow  
Doomfanger and the Fell Bros 

* * *

Idea list I may use, feel free to take if you want.

Bitty Papyrus is a great caregiver for the old woman that had adopted him! He brings her meals, and helps her count her medications and everything else she might need! ...but today, she's sleeping in.  
Bittybones Papyrus

Little blueberry knows that he wasn't the bitty you wanted. You wanted an Edgy, but your grandma gave you him instead. He knew you liked flowers, and maybe you'd like him if he brought you that flower he saw you looking at. He didn't mean to wander. He didn't mean to get lost.  
Bittybones Blue

Jealous Red  
Of course his brother liked that soft, flat toothed version him better. Sans was making Edge a better monster. Sans actually kept his brother from gaining Lv. Unlike Red, who failed. Who always failed, really. Well, he wasn't letting Edge go without a fight. He was going to have a nice little 'talk' with Sans first. He might even be generous enough not to dust him. We'll see.  
UTSans and UFSans

Partial idea-  
The river person has a great view to watch the Apocalypse. "Tra-la-la~ Those who try are doomed to die." Now, to figure out how to get Sans on the boat and make that as ominous as possible...


	2. Something Oddly Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slim does something nice.

Sans looked up only briefly from the tv as a tall skeleton monster in a black fur-lined jacket walked through the door. It was just Slim, he thought. It wasn't Papyrus, and he refused to think of him that way. Turning back to the music video he shifted deeper into his ragged blue hoodie. He didn't really like this Napstabot character very much, and the music was, in a word, violent. Still, it was something to watch. He kinda missed the cooking shows though. 

"i'm still not gonna train with alphys," Sans said curtly as Slim walked up to the couch. The lanky monster hesitated, looking even more lost than usual. He paused, two steps from the edge of the couch with eyelights downcast as he held out a brown paper sack.

"M'lord, I brought Muffets."

"i'm not your lord," Sans replied flatly, continuing to stare straight ahead. He still caught Slim's flinch out of the corner of his eye. 

"I- I know, m'lo- Sans," the tall skeleton corrected himself. 

The bag remained held in the air between them. One minute became two, then three, before Sans finally sighed and leaned over to rip the bag from Slim's grasp. Looking inside he could see two pastries and a small bottle of what he presumed to be cider. 

"you just gonna stand there, or what?" Sans asked. It wasn't exactly permission but it was enough that Slim came around to join Sans on the couch.

Reaching into the bag Sans pulled out the cider and one of what turned out to be an eclair. The top was sprinkled with a dark, crunchy substance and filled with some sort of pink icing. He rolled the top of the bag shut again and tossed it between himself and Slim, who ignored it, choosing instead to watch Sans with a surprisingly direct stare. Sans, in turn, chose to ignore him. 

Popping the top off the cider, Sans downed half of it in a gulp. He had to give these monsters one thing, that Muffet makes some good cider. It would never compare to Grillby's whiskey, of course, but… he very carefully stopped thinking about that and took a bite of the eclair. 

His eyesockets widened in surprise at the taste of the pink filling. It wasn't the usual (sickeningly sweet) buttercream, or the (just sickening) spidercream. Instead, it was almost ketchp-y?

He crooked a brow bone at Slim questioningly. Slim figeted in place, unsure whether this was a positive reaction or not. "I asked Muffet to stir ketchup into the icing. Do you like it m'- Sans?"

That was, actually, really considerate of him. Like the most considerate thing Slim had ever done for him since he'd fallen into this world. For Sans, not for the stand-in of his own brother he'd been trying to make Sans into. It was… nice. He took another bite, feeling the sting of magic prick the edge of his eye sockets.

"Are they both like this?" He asked around a mouthful of dessert. Despite the odd combination, it was delicious. 

"Yes," Slim confirmed, then quickly continued, "but if you don't like it I'll just eat the other one myself, after I get you a new one, of course." He was halfway out of his seat before Sans could wave at him to stay.

"But you hate ketchup." He didn't answer, so Sans continued, tossing the last bite in his mouth, "Heh, well, I suppose it's a good thing that I really like it then. Thanks."

At the praise, Slim smiled. Not a smirk, or one of the sad self deprecating smiles that Sans himself knew so well, but a real, happy smile that lit up his face. Like a cloud had moved away from the sun. It reminded Sans of Papyrus. In fact, it was almost exactly like his own brother's smile. A smile that he might never, ever see again. 

The last piece of his eclair stuck in Sans's throat as he found himself suddenly unable to swallow. Fighting it down with a wince, he stood up suddenly. "here," he said as he tossed the bottle of cider to Slim, who caught it reflexively, "i'm not thirsty anymore. i'll be in the basement." 

Slim's eyes widened. "M'lord-?"

Sans spun to regard him with dark eyes. "i a m n o t y o u r l o r d."

"But, wait-!"

Sans didn't hear the rest of it, already taking a shortcut to the lab. He pulled his soldering tools from the workbench and sat down in front of the machine. At the broken hunk of metal that should have been his ticket back home. 

Sans opened the nearest panel, pulled out one of the many fried circuit boards, and began carefully soldering some more of the burned connections back together. It was delicate work, and very hot. And he simply couldn't focus. 

It didn't help that everything about this machine was so WRONG. Half of it he couldn't recognize, and the parts of it that he did seemed to be backwards, though Slim had assured him that that was how it was supposed to be.

His mind kept wandering back to Papyrus. Sans missed his brother so much, it was a constant ache in his Soul. He knew full well that Slim missed his own brother just as much. It was hard to care.

After burning his finger bone for the third time, he said the tools down and simply leaned against the machine, eyes closed. He dropped his forehead against the metal with a small clack, feeling the chill of the basement seep into his bones. He lifted his head for a moment, and dropped it again. And again. The repetitive clacking filled the small room.

He didn't know what was wrong with the machine. No one did. Sans didn't want to see Slim's smile, he wanted to see Papyrus's smile. He wanted to go home.

For a few moments he fought the tears gathering in the corners of his eye sockets. Then he gave up on that too, and let them fall silently down his face.

He must have fallen asleep, because when he opened his eyes there was a blanket around his shoulders. On the ground he could see that a few more of the circuit boards had been worked on, and the ketchup pastry and half finished bottle of cider were sitting on a plate next to him. 

He knew Slim was trying to make him feel better, but paradoxically, Slim being nice to him, after he'd been so short, just made him feel worse. Well, maybe he could try to be a little better. He sighed. If only it wasn't so hard.


	3. Shore and Steady Wins the Ray-ce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Underfell, where the kid has been trying to get past Undyne. And failing. A lot.
> 
> Underfell Sans

"What's the matter sweetheart, need a little kelp getting past Undyne?"

The kid just looked at him, giving him the same sad, determined gaze they always did, but this time he could see the corners sagging. They seemed tired, even more tired than usual. And it wasn't like the Underground was going easy on them. 

Sans grinned, making sure to show off every one of his pointed fangs. "Heh, I can sea you're getting tired of herring my jokes. But I'm shore you'll get past her soon."

The kid just shook their head and continued their walk towards Hotland. Not even a hint of a smile thls time.

Sans watched them go, letting his own smile drop. What was this, try number 30? No, wait, 31? Hell, he didn't know. It was a joke in and of itself to keep pretending like he did. He lost count for certain after about the first dozen, and didn't exactly try all that hard to keep track afterwards. What would be the point, really? 

The kid came by, the kid walked away, the kid died. Wash, rinse, and repeat. The number didn't matter. He was starting to wonder if the kid would ever actually get past Undyne.

Kid never reset back far enough for him to get anything done anyhow. So now, he just waited out the cycles in his sentry station with nothing better to do than practice his jokes. Although he was pretty sure he'd burned out on every fish pun he knew a long time ago. Kind of hard to keep track of which ones he already used, but it was something that the kid seemed to like, so he kept trying. Plus, he'd always have Papyrus to mess with once the kid was done.

And if the kid didn't like the jokes this run, he'll just have to try harder on the next batch.

Of-fish-al business. A great oppor-tuna-ty. Op-perch-tuna-ty. Yeah, that one was a bit much.

An hour went by, then two. That was... decidedly strange. It didn't use to be, in fact the kid used to spend hours chatting up every monster from the Ruins to Hotland. Maybe they got tired of dealing with Undyne for a while and found a new group of monsters to hang out with? 

He shrugged to himself. Whatever. He didn't really care, wouldn't even bother asking them next time they walk by. 

Democra-sea. Reef-furbishing.

Maybe the kid actually beat Undyne. Maybe the kid wore her down with its inexorable Mercy. He smiled at the thought of big, strong Undyne cracking under the power of a kid's soft smile.

The kid had won Sans over, but that hadn't been too hard. He liked the kid's spunk. Even Papyrus, great and terrible as he is, couldn't resist. Although, admittedly, it had taken more than a few resets before the kid figured out how to deal with Boss's "Bones first, questions later" attitude. 

Still, even after the that success, Sans had trouble imagining Undyne ever accepting the kid's Mercy. But, hell, what did he know anyway?

It wasn't important. Where was he? Oh yeah, arti-fish-al intelligence.

Some time later, he looked up as he heard the distinctive sound of his brother's boots clack-clack-clacking down the walkway. 

"SANS! Wake up you lazy bones! Undyne has killed the human!"

Sans jolted upright. This… was new. "What? What do you mean, Boss?"

Papyrus glared. "I mean exactly what I said, and I won't stand to repeat myself."

"But, the kid, Boss? The kid didn't come back?"

Papyrus searched Sans's face, browbones creasing together as he searched for the punchline. "What kind of joke is this supposed to be? Zombies do not exist, despite what Alphy's movies may suggest." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Though, if they did, would the dinner invitation I extended to the human carry over to the zombie as well?"

Sans scrubbed a knuckle into his eye socket, trying to focus. "Not like that. I mean, well, what happened to their soul?"

"It had shattered. Completely disintegrated," Papyrus said with an irritated shake of his head. "The captain must have been rather forceful with it. This is why they should have called me, for no one has as much control and cautious judgment as I, the Great and Terrible Papyrus! Had I been the one in charge, we would have the soul in hand and be on our way to break out of this prison!"

Shattered? This had never happened before. What did that mean? He tried to question Papyrus, but Boss either didn't know or wouldn't tell him. Undyne, when he tracked her down, only scowled and tried to stab him when he asked. Which probably had nothing to do with the human, since that was how she normally greeted him.

Life continued in the underground, and time moved forward. Sans got up in the mornings, watched Boss try to keep everyone from dusting each other during the days, and went to Grillby's in the evenings. 

A week went by no reset. Another week. Another. 

…Maybe the kid was just taking a break? Yeah, that had to be it. They had promised Sans that they were going to save the monsters. The kid was determined, right?

Shore and steady wins the ray-ce.

Heh, he liked that one, and he'd have to remember to use that one when the kid came back. Sans missed the kid. He hoped they'll be back soon. The kid was gonna save them all, right? They promised.

He'll just try to be reel patient until then.


	4. For the LoVe of Science

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you ever find yourself in Underfell, you'd better make sure you stay far, far away from the current Royal Scientist. If you have green magic, it's already too late for you.
> 
> In this chapter- unwilling, painful soul experimentation on a child  
> Underfell Alphys and unnamed Nacarat Jester OC

Strapped to the table, the young Nacarat Jester screamed as the Royal Scientist jabbed the empty syringe directly into her Soul. 

At the noise, the yellow lizard paused, frowning. Her eyes flashed bright behind her swirled glasses. “P-pathetic,” she hissed as the scream faded, “I've ba-barely even started.” There was no response other than sobbing, and Alphy's tsk'ed quietly as she pulled back the plunger. The jester's screams began again, echoing around the Lab as soft, green magic filled the barrel of the syringe. 

Alphys was glad for the drugs that dimmed her emotions. Without them, she wasn't sure she'd have been able to do what she needed to. When the monsters had dropped the ~~child~~ subject off the day before, they had claimed the girl to be a runaway, another worthless stray roaming the streets of New Home. It was a lie, of course, but they wouldn't have been paid if they had actually admitted to kidnapping. 

Sure, now and again they'd bring her true urchins, the castaways and reprobates that would be nothing more than free exp to anyone else Underground. The unfortunate “volunteers” found new purpose in the Lab with Alphys, and she made sure that each of their lives furthered the cause of monsterkind. Or at least the cause of the King. In Alphys's mind it was the same thing, really.

But this one... Alphys had seen her on the cameras in Waterfall. Not often, but Alphys made it a habit to watch around Captain Undyne's house, and the subject had lived nearby. The girl had a mother, and a father, and Alphys knew they cared for the child deeply. 

As Alphys withdrew the needle from the subject's Soul, she wondered what they thought of their daughter's disappearance. They were probably frantic. Looking at the green magic in her claws, she knew it didn't matter.

Kindness. It was a rare trait in the Underground, and valuable. Honestly, it was probably better that the girl had been brought in by the kidnappers, as it saved Alphys the trouble of setting up the abduction herself. Green magic was just too scarce to risk letting the child be killed running free.

The subject's cries had lessened as Alphys had pulled away, and the scientist watched, disinterested as the small orange creature sobbed for her family. Even if they had known what had happened, it wouldn't have done any good. Asgore needed green magic, and the girl had it. It was a forgone conclusion that the girl would have entered the Lab someday. Few monsters that found themselves in the domain of the Royal Scientist were ever seen again. 

Alphys knew she used to feel bad about that. Good thing she didn't feel anymore. Carefully, Alphys emptied the syringe into a small vial, capped it tightly, and placed it in the pocket of her labcoat. It was bright, untainted by the sickness that seemed to infect the magic of so, so many monsters. The scientist smiled, yellow scales pulling back in a ferocious toothy grin. Asgore will be pleased.

“B-be happy,” she told the subject, “you're doing us all a g-great service, and h-helping everyone.” Alphys watched as the jester's cross shaped eyes focused on her, and on the new syringe Alphys had pulled from a drawer. Unlike the first syringe, this one was already filled with a grey liquid. It was a sedative, designed to force the subject's Soul to sleep and produce more magic.

“I just want to go home,” the subject whispered, and Alphys had to strain to make out the words.

“No.” Grasping the subject's Soul again in her claws, she prepared to inject the solution when she felt a tug on her labcoat. She'd gotten too close, and the girl had managed to snag the edge of her coat. But the girl only looked at her, frightened eyes looking up at her.

“Please?” she begged, softly.

A shiver ran down Alphys's spine at the quiet plea, and she quickly plunged the needle into the tiny Soul, injecting the dull liquid. It was fast, and the girl hardly had a moment to shriek before it took effect. Her eyes closed, and Alphys's labcoat dropped from the lax fingers.

That was... sad, Alphys realized. She felt sad. It was time for another dose for herself, she realized, and she needed it now. Shaking her head, she walked from the room, not bothering to properly put the tools away. She'd take care of it later, once the feelings went away. And they would. They always did.


	5. Swapping Resets and Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Underswap Sans has just had the worst nightmare. 
> 
> Heavily inspired by GriifinWrite's Angstober nightmare chapter, and the Swapfell Sans of LingeringChaos's Saving Sans.
> 
> I tried to write character death! This came to me in a rush, and it has minimal editing because I'm falling asleep against my phone. I'll see how it looks in the morning. 
> 
> Edit: On reading again, that was cruel to Stretch. Mwahaha.

"…I believe in you!"

Sans struggled to breathe, though he knew it was hopeless. He'd felt the knife as it slashed through his vertebra, and a distinct loss of sensation from the rest of his body. His blue bandana laid in the snow in front of him, and he stared at it as the world went cold.

No, not cold, Sans realized. Numb. The world went numb around him.

A spot of orange in the distance drew his attention, and he struggled to make his eyelights focus. Was that… Papy? Oh, stars, it… it was Papy… He couldn't… couldn't leave his brother to this…

The darkness closed in, and his eyelights faded as his magic failed.

papy… papyrus… i'm sorry…

***

Sans came awake slowly, fighting to escape the nightmare that gripped him. He could feel tears running down his skull, but he couldn't do anything about it. Someone was speaking to him, calling his name.

"…come on, Sans, wake up," called a familiar voice, softly.

"Pa- Papy?" he asked as he opened his eyesockets, eyelights snapping in place.

The worried face of his big brother came into view above him, the corners of Papyrus's eyesockets crinkling with a smile when he realized the little skeleton was awake. "There you are bro, you're ok."

Sans jolted, realization dawning as he found that it had just been a nightmare. He was alive, and Papy was right here, holding Sans tight against his ribcage. Dressed in nothing but a black tank top and white boxers with little orange bones, Sans felt a stab of guilt that he must have woken Papy up with his nightmare. But it was ok now, and he gripped his brother's tank top with both fists, reveling in the safety he felt around his big brother. 

"Oh, Papy!" he cried, pressing his face against his brother's bones. "It was so awful!"

"It's alright bro, it was just a bad dream," Papyrus assured him as he gently stroked the back of Sans's skull.

"I-I know, but, it was so terrible!" Sams hiccuped around a sob as he continued, "I… I died! And you were there but you… oh Papy, you were there but you didn't do anything! You just watched me die!"

Papyrus froze, his hands stilling from their gentle ministrations. "You… I… What?"

Sans wiped the long sleeve of his pajamas, blue with yellow bones, across his face before answering. It was ok, he'll do the laundry in the morning. Just as soon as he calmed down.

"I'm sorry Papy, I know it was just a dream." He took a deep breath, then pulled back a little to give his brother a big smile. "Thank you for being here. That's how I know it was just a nightmare, in real life you're always here for me!"

Papyrus's eyelights guttered out for just a second, giving him a stricken look. Then they returned, and Papyrus pulled Sans into a crushing embrace.

"Stars, Sans, I'm so sorry," Papyrus shook, mumbling apology after apology, his words blurring together into a meaningless babble.

Taken aback, Sans could only hold onto the tall skeleton tighter as he tried his best to reassure his brother. "It's ok Papy! It was just a nightmare! See? I'm ok!"

Sniffling, Papyrus loosened his grip, and Sans pulled free. His brother looked terrible, tracks of tears staining vivid orange lines into his skull. "How about I make us some tea, ok Papy?"

Papyrus quirked the corner of his jaw up in a small smile, but it was obvious to Sans that it never touched his eyesockets. "Sure bro, that sounds great."

Wriggling his way out of Papyrus's grasp, and out of the bed, Sans stood up and posed. It wasn't the most inspiring pose he'd ever made, what with the pajamas and everything, but he had to work with what he had.

"Alright brother! Wait here and prepare yourself for the greatest tea ever crafted! And, once consumed, we shall both be calm, content, and ready to face the day and any challenges that might arise, mweh heh heh!"

Trotting out of the door to the hallway, Sans paused as soon as he was out of eyesight. He reached up towards his neck, his phalanges ghosting across the bones of his vertabrae, and Sans could almost swear he felt exactly where the knife had sunk into him.

But… that never really happened. And it couldn't happen, right? With a sigh he continued downstairs. Well, time to put on that tea. Besides, maybe today would be a good day. 

Sans just had to believe in it.


	6. Why Even Bother?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans had a bad reset. He just doesn't want to deal with this today, okay?
> 
> Featuring depression, unhealthy drinking, and Sans just generally feeling bad. I love Sans so much, too bad it's a universal law that all Sans must suffer.

Sans wakes up slowly, a chill in his bones and a sick feeling in his soul. Cold air filled his bedroom from the open window. Sitting up, he rubbed at his eye sockets and wished, for the thousandth time, that he had bothered to close the window the night before. 

He staggered to the now open window and pulled it shut, latching the lock and prying the handle off with a bone attack. Only a bending of time and space would open that window again.

Sighing, he looked out through the glass at the snowy town. At the early risers going about their business, completely unaware of the potential hell that may or may not erupt from the ruins. He won't know for sure until the door opens. Schrodinger's door. Heh. 

He was exhausted.

How bad was the last run? He couldn't remember exactly. It hadn't been the worst, but it hadn't been very good either. He remembered that much. One more memory of Papyrus's dust in the snow to add to his collection.

"SANS! Time to get up, you lazy bones! Breakfast is almost ready!" Papyrus called, rapping smartly on the door before Sans heard the sound of his footsteps continue towards the staircase.

Speak of the monster. 

Well, time to face the "new" day.

He gave one final, hateful look to the window as he put on his jacket in his slippers and headed downstairs.

He wondered what Papyrus would be making this morning. His brother, Stars bless him, was inconsistent. Somedays he would make regular spaghetti, somedays breakfesketti with tiny marshmallows. Although Sans knew that Papyrus didn't remember the resets there was still something that kept him from making the same breakfast twice in a row. Sans didn't know why Papyrus did things differently sometimes, but he did and it was the only thing Sans had to look forward to.

The stairs felt steeper today, his feet heavier. Internally he knew that was impossible. They were the same, always and forever, but it still felt like it took him a long time to reach the living room. 

Papyrus was in the kitchen, and he could smell the scent of only slightly burnt scrambled eggs floating through the house. Good, he thought with a sigh of relief.

It wasn't spaghetti pancakes again. 

Now, if only he didn't smash cooked noodles into the scrambled eggs afterwards. Oh well.

"Wow! I'm so glad to see you're awake brother! And I only had to wake you up twice!" Papyrus exclaimed, voice overflowing with pride as Sans sat himself the table. With a dramatic fourish he set down a plate of scrambled noodles.

"Looks good bro, thanks," Sans said, smiling up at Papyrus's cheery face. "You're the best."

Grabbing a plate of his own, Papyrus took a seat next to Sans. "Nyeh heh heh, of course! Now, I don't suppose you could repay me by picking up your sock?"

"Sure, bro. Heh, it's probably about time I clean up my act, right?"

Papyrus froze, fork halfway to his mouth. "Sans…"

Sans's felt his grin stretch wide. "I'm mean, I wouldn't want my dirty laundry to hamper your housekeeping efforts."

"Oh my god Sans!" Papyrus cried, dramatically throwing down his fork.

"What?" It was a struggle to keep a straight face. "I'm just drying to get my socks washed."

"Well," Papyrus said, his face breaking into a grin, "I'm sure it will be loads of fun!"

Sans smacked a hand to his forehead, chuckling. "Haha, that was a good one!"

After a minute he looked up over and saw that Papyrus was still looking off towards the living room, one hand rubbing the back of his neck absentmindedly. "Uh, Paps? Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yes! Sorry, I just got... a little distracted, I suppose," Papyrus said guiltily. "I am great at many things but I'm afraid sleeping last night wasn't one of them, and it wasn't as restful as I would have liked. Which is all right! I don't need to nap all night anyway!" He still kept a hand against the back of his neck.

With a start, Papyrus looked over at the clock. "Look at the time! I must be off, those puzzles won't calibrate themselves!" When he dropped his hand, Sans could see a faint grey line across his neck. Oh, that's right, there's a demon on the loose. Suddenly, all the fatigue he'd momentarily forgotten while talking with his brother came flooding back. 

Papyrus, in his hurry to clean up, didn't notice. "All right brother! Picking up you sock is your first step towards greatness! The next will be showing up on time for your shift! Goodbye Sans!"

In a flash he was out the door and gone before Sans could respond.

"…sure thing bro," he called softly to the air. He couldn't stop thinking of dust in the snow and his brother's red scarf. A deep, stinging pain reverberated in his chest with every beat of his Soul.

He sat there, just staring at the plate of food, eyelights dim. After a while, he took in a deep breath and sighed, look up at the clock. 

Hours had passed. Welp, so much for making his sentry shift, and if he waited much longer he was going to miss the human entirely. He figured that should concern him. But it didn't. He just... Didn't seem to care today. 

With a detached sort of curiosity Sans looked over at the sock, wondering if he felt anything about that. After all, he'd told Papyrus that he'd clean it up today. Nope, nothing. 

Well how about that. 

And you know what? He didn't feel like salvaging the day. Forget sentry duty, forget the human, the only thing Sans wanted was to go to Grillby's. 

And he didn't even feel like walking. 

He opened a shortcut and dropped out right in front of the door to the bar. A nearby bear monster flinched back with a startled yelp. "What the…?! Where did you come from?"

Sans just flashed him a grin and pushed the door to the bar open. Warm air and the smell of greasy food washed over him as he stepped inside. 

"Heya Sansy~" cooed the bunny from her booth. A few others looked up when she called his name, and they greeted him as he passed by. Sans tried to smile, but it felt weak. It was muscle memory, or something like it, that held his grin in place, not will. 

He couldn't even muster the energy to wave. Climbing up to his normal spot, he placed his arms on the bar and just put his head down. Grillby walked over, that perpetual glass in his hand. Sans could hear the soft sound of the towel rubbing against the glass. 

He didn't say anything, refusing to acknowledge anything other than the pattern in the wood grain until a bottle of ketchup was pushed into his lax grip. Sans looked up, finally meeting Grillby's eyes.

"Kind of early, don't you think?" He joked, trying to summon a small grin. 

"...you look like you need it."

Sans looked at it for a long moment. "Yeah… I think I do."

An hour later, the kid walked in. And it walked straight up to Sans and proceeded to stared at him. He completely refused to acknowledge it. After a minute or so it turned, and began to wander around the bar, talking to the other patrons. Then it came back to Sans again.

"Go away." The kid just stood there, so he repeated it, scowling. "Go. Away."

The kid left.

"...what was that about?" Grillby asked, his already quiet voice lowered even further with obvious worry.

Sans grit his teeth. The kid hardly had any dust. Things would be fine. He could… just stay here. Why not? "Don't worry about it."

"...I've never seen you act that way to a child before."

"Child? Hardly," Sans snorted, a wild urge growing in his chest. "Besides, I can already tell it's not going to kill us all. This time."

"…meaning?"

Sans laughed. It was not happy sound. "I mean, we've done all this before. Again. And again. And again! AND AGAIN! And every time, I play the same role, you know? 'Heya bud, bucko, buddy-pal-chum!' But you know what? You know WHAT, Grillbz? I'm not doing it this time. Just this once, I'm done. 

"I'm just going to sit here, right here and wait for it all to just end. And the best part? It won't even take that long." He frowned at the ketchup in his fist. He hadn't meant to say all that. What was wrong with him today? His problems shouldn't be Grillby's problems.

"...the human is going to cause an end?"

San smile sardonically. "It always does."

"...that sounds, odd."

A thought occurred to Sans, and he couldn't stop a tipsy giggle. "You know what's odd? I'll show you odd. Hey Grillbz, what's my tab at?"

Grillby looked at him, puzzled for a moment. "…why, it's," he began, pulling up the number in his head, "it's..." He trailed off. 

"Yeah?" Sans prompted.

"…over 10,000 G, but that's impossible. …I don't have that much stock."

Of course Grillby kept track, even if he didn't really know it. It was just too funny, and Sans began to laugh. The sound rang in his skull, echoing and growing until manic laughter rang through the bar, silencing everyone else.

"Y-you see?" he asked, choking around the laughter. "Been there, done that, as they say. And now? Since I've been there, and done that, I'm going to do this." He lifted the ketchup bottle to his mouth and took a deep swig.

Over the next couple of hours the kid occasionally returned to the bar to stare at Sans. It was disturbing, but Sans refused to rise to the bait, and never replied anything other than "Go away." 

It was sometime later that when when Papyrus came in and found him, half conscious and slumped over the bar. Sans felt a growing guilt burning inside him. Papyrus was a good monster, he didn't deserve to deal with Sans's shit. At least he wouldn't remember it, so Sans guessed it still didn't matter.

Oh well. 

Papyrus lifted him up, pulling him close against his massive chest. Indulging himself, just a little, Sans snuggled in close against his brothers scarf. Comfort. Bones. Home. The only good thing left in the stupid Underground. His brother was the only good thing left in the whole stupid universe.

The sound of Papyrus's voice, pitched much quieter than normal, rolled over him. Sans tried to listen, but he just couldn't focus on the words. He found himself upstairs in the house, as Papyrus was opening the door to his bedroom. 

Papyrus made a disgusted sound at what he found inside, and Sans chuckled. Then gravity shifted around Sans and… no wait, Papyrus was just setting him down in his bed. Leaning forward, Sans tried to slip off his slippers. He got one off, but when the second refused to come off after the first few tries, Papyrus yanked it off gently with a sigh and an over exaggerated roll of his eyelights. 

"Thanks Paps," Sans mumbled, already half asleep. "You're the best…" He wasn't aware of anything else until he was awoken the next morning by the chill air flowing in from his open window.


	7. Failing Lamp in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deity Sans has suffered a loss, and it's breaking him.
> 
> Based off of Symphysin's beautiful Deity Sans.

As he passed it, the failing light of the old oil lamp caught eye of the tired little nature deity. Sans paused to look into the tiny shrine, his veil swirling gently against his skull before falling still.

Papyrus had lit that lamp for him. Two, maybe three weeks ago? Sans wasn't sure. He had never known that unattended lamps would continue to burn so long, but the ever diminishing flicker heralded that the end was approaching.

Sans continued walking forward. 

He passed the silver fountain, frowning at the silent basin. Before, water had traveled down from the hilltop above, flowing through Papyrus's ingeniously designed pipe system to erupt in a beautiful display of cascading droplets… but something had stopped working. Without its caretaker the fountain couldn't function, and Sans didn't have the slightest clue where to even begin to fix it.

He wished he had thought to ask about it.

As Sans looked into the water he could see his reflection staring back him. He looked terrible. Deep blue shadows sat heavy under his hollow eyes. The flowers on his crown had wilted. 

The peonies, once so bright and colorful, were now faded and dull. The beautiful blues and pinks that Papyrus had loved so much had turned brown and lifeless against his pale skull. Sans was impressed, honestly, with how they reflected so perfectly on the outside how he felt on the inside. Even the points of his antlers seems to be drooping.

He continued again, staring straight ahead, past the little garden. He didn't want to look at the garden, its carefully tended rows and perfectly manicured flowers. Didn't want to think of the hours that Papyrus would spend, kneeling next to the tiny plants, talking to every one. How he'd tell each one individually how much he believed in them. How much he loved them.

He had told Sans the same thing, a million times and more.

Finally, Sans made his way to the little shack where Papyrus had lived. The door was shut, and Sans didn't think there would ever be a reason to open it again. 

There was no life on the other side of the thin wooden barrier, only dust and silence. Sans leaned his back against it, sliding to the ground as his legs suddenly refused to support him. He wrapped his arms around himself, unable to stop the shaking in his bones as he fought back tears. 

He didn't like the silence. It hadn't been silent here for... Years. 

A stray bird call made him look up.

"Heh," he laughed softly, barely more than a whisper. Truthfully, he supposed, the silence was more in his head than in nature.

The birds were still singing, the flowers were still blooming. There was almost nothing at all to show that the end of the world had already happened. Nothing but a dying oil lamp and a dying god.

The tiny little nature deity didn't have any other followers. He'd never needed any others. It was just him and Papyrus. That had been more than enough. 

Now that he had lost him, would Sans just... Fade away? He didn't know. He couldn't actually die, not as mortals did, falling down and fading to dust, but he knew in his Soul that he couldn't live like this either.

Sans stayed where he was, trembling quietly in the dirt, as the sun crossed the sky. It just didn't seem to matter any longer. Nothing mattered. 

The sun sank beneath the trees, the glow of the oil lamp became more apparent, shining out into the clearing. Its light was weak, hardly extending past the stone stairs that encircled the shrine's base. As Sans watched, the light faded further, either its wick or its oil supply finally running out.

Sans couldn't think of anything better to do than to watch it fade as the world went dark around him.


	8. A Barrel of Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue is in a bad spot. A very tiny spot. Well, let's look at the bright side of things? At least his brother is around...
> 
> A million thanks to GriifinWrites, who keeps inspiring me to torture the Blueberry!

As Blue sat in the small cramped space, his knees pulled close to his chest, he tried to think of the positives.

Well, at least it wasn't dark.

Although, he almost wished it was. If it was dark, he wouldn't be able to see the hundreds of tiny nicks and scratches on his bones, more than a few still slowly leaking marrow. He wouldn't be able to see the thick ripple in the air around the magic dampeners. 

Maybe if it was dark, he would've been able to pretend that he wasn't naked. But the dark wouldn't fix how exposed his neck felt without his blue bandana. It struck him as odd how much he missed that scrap of fabric. Missed it more than the shirt or pants, or even his battle body.

Reaching up with his good hand, he gripped one of the widened slats of the barrel, and wiggled it fiercely. Trying, for the hundredth time to get any sort of movement from the stout wooden bars. Honey had obviously been very, very thorough in its construction, but Blue tried anyway.

Think positive, he continued to tell himself. One of them would wiggle loose eventually.

He yanked his hand back with a shriek as pain flashed across his phalanges. It came back with a small bone attack embedded between the carpals. 

Honey was back. 

On reflex, he tried to summon a bone of his own. Blue magic sparked around him, fading instantly into sparkling dust as the magic dampeners soaked up the attack before it even had a chance to form. He had to choke back a sob, still unused to the terror that gripped him every time he tried to reach for magic that wasn't there. Oh Stars, where it is brother even found these things?

"Now, now, now…" Honey's voice drawled, as smooth and thick as its namesake, flowed through the slats of the barrel, lingering in the air around Blue. "I told you already that that wasn't going to work. Why are you doing this to yourself, baby Blue?" Through the slats in the barrel, Blue watched Honey shake his head sadly. 

He didn't bother answering, and he knew that Honey didn't actually want him to. The crack in the radius of his useless arm stood as a painful testament to that fact. 

So instead, he made his eye lights is big and wide and blues he could and looked up and his brother with all the puppy dog sadness he could muster. 

It was the look that, in the past, his brother could never resist. Whether it was to get an extra dessert after dinner, or to get him to allow blue to train without fees, all he had to do was turn the sad eyes up to 11 and his brother always gave in.

But his brother wasn't in there anymore, was he?

Honey knelt down in front of the barrel looking into Blue's big round eyes. "Oh baby Blue," he said softly, reaching into the small space to gently cup his palm next to Blue's cheekbone. "Don't give me that face. Don't you know how much I love you? I'm doing this to help you. You always try so hard to be perfect. I'll help make you perfect."

Suddenly, his hand shifted, moving past his skull to grip tightly around the base of his neck.

Blue gasped, fighting against the sudden restriction but there was no where to go.

"I saw you try to summon that attack," Honey continued. "Alphys sure taught you some bad habits, didn't she?" 

Blue scrabbled desperately against the arm that held him. The fingers of his good hand dug in with as much energy as he could muster, but he couldn't do anything to the bones protectively wrapped under thick orange hoodie. Pain screamed through his bad arm as he tried to force the broken broken bones to move.

Honey's grip tightened, and spots begin to swim in front of Blues eyes.

"Don't you worry, baby Blue. We'll break you of that habit. I'll make you perfect..." The voice faded, as his magic failed to flow past the constriction around his neck and his eyes closed without his permission. His arm dropped, and the smiling face of his big brother was the last thing he saw before his eyelights faded to black.


	9. Let's All Ride the Ducks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by AskEllie's story A Lack of Brotherly Love. It is a fantastic psychological manipulation fic, and I'm a big fan. 
> 
> TL:DR (Tho you should, it's great) Classic Sans finds himself in a world with characters just like his, except that the Sans of this world (Serif) is a very Bad Brother.
> 
> Featuring UT!Sans and BadBrother AU everyone else.
> 
> ((A Lack of Brotherly Love-  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/8384338/chapters/19207273))

"Hey guys," Serif called jovially to the waiting group as he rounded the corner of the walkway, emerging from between the thick trees that encircled the park. "I've got a surprise for you." He brought up a hand, smiling wide as he fanned out a collection of tickets.

Alphys gasped. "Are those are tickets for the Ride the Ducks tour?"

Undyne looked at Alphys like she'd grown a second head. Asgore just looked around the park, confused. "Ducks? Are not ducks a creature much too small to even consider riding upon?" He asked, waving a hand towards a pond in the distance.

Serif and Toriel laughed, sharing a knowing glance in their mutual amusement, and Alphys gave a nervous, tittering laugh.

"No, Asgore," Toriel explained, the fur around her eyes puffing up as she grinned, "Ride the Ducks is the name of the tour company that transports customers on both land and sea using large amphibious vehicles known as 'Ducks.'"

"Yeah," Serif added as Asgore and Undyne nodded their understanding, "I figured it'd be good to give Sans a tour of the city. And, hey, why not make it fun for the whole group, right?"

"Sweet dude!" Undyne shouted, pumping her fist in the air. "Amphibious vehicles are twice as awesome as stupid boats or cars! When is it?"

"I got us for the 4 o'clock."

Sans smiled, feeling a much needed surge of excitement at the prospect of exploring the city in such a unique mode of transportation. He looked over, trying to catch Papyrus's eye to share his good mood, but when he saw the tall monster's face his Soul went cold. Papyrus looked absolutely devastated. "Paps?" Sans asked, reaching for his hand, "What's the matter, Paps?"

Papyrus startled visibly, flinching back a half step at being adressed. "What? Oh, it's, I mean…" He trailed off when he realized everyone had turned to look at him. Sans tried for his hand again, caught it, and gave him an encouraging squeeze. Papyrus gently sueezed back, his voice dropping even softer than normal as he continued, "It's just… I don't really do well with, um, boats."

Serif rolled his eyes and made an exasperated noise. "Oh come on! Papyrus! That was years ago."

"P-Papyrus fell off of the RiverPerson's ferry when he was a kid," Alphys explained as Sans threw a questioning look around the group. "W-we almost lost him."

Sans stilled, his eye socket going wide and he gripped Papyrus's hand a bit tighter. "Jeez Pap, I had no idea. Maybe this isn't such a good idea then?"

There were a few crestfallen cries from the surrounding monsters, and Papyrus's face drooped further. He pulled his phalanges out of Sans's grip and took a step back. "No! No, you… you all should go. I'll just stay here."

"But…" Sans faltered, his hand still partially outstretched.

Sans felt a hand drop onto his shoulder, and he followed the arm up to the smiling face of Serif. "Yeah Sans, he's a big monster. It'll be good for you to get out and about, you know?" He held out a ticket, and Sans saw that by now everyone had one, except for Papyrus and him.

Sans looked to Papyrus, who was staring, apparently fascinated with a weed growing from the sidewalk. After a moment Serif pressed the ticket into Sans's empty hand and his fingers closed reflexively.

He waved the final ticket at Papyrus. "Do you want to join? Final chance."

"No, no thank you." 

…

 

Half an hour later everyone, except Papyrus, was outside the tour business, waiting for the Duck to arrive. 

"W-were you able to get a refund for Papyrus's ticket?" Alphys asked as Serif walked back from the ticket booth.

"Nah, too close to the pickup time." Serif answered, palms raised in a "nothing to be done about it" gesture.

"It's too bad that Papyrus didn't want to come. You're just trying to do something nice and there he is, blowing off your kindness like that!" Undyne railed, pounding a fist into her palm.

Sans jumped a little at the vicious movement. "But, after the ferry thing, this isn't a surprise, right?"

Serif shrugged, a small frown crossing his face. "Like I said, that was years ago. Kinda figured he be over it, or at least want to come along to be part of the group." 

"Maybe I should go back," Sans began, but Serif stopped him with a raised hand. Serif looked back towards where they had parted ways with Papyrus.

"You know what? If it's that important to you, I'll stay here and hang out with him," Serif offered, his voice sounding completely sincere. "How about that?"

Surprised Sans could only stare for a moment. Was he serious? Could it be that Serif actually felt bad?

"Don't be silly, Dr. Serif," Toriel said, stepping up and placing a comforting paw on Serif's arm. "You're already out the cost of one ticket, there's no reason to be out for two. There's nothing you can do if he doesn't want to join us." Toriel sighed. "I know you were just trying to be nice, perhaps he'll participate with us next time."

Before Serif could answer the Duck pulled up, and an enthusiastic driver descended to invite the monsters onboard. Undyne and Alphys went first, followed by Asgore. 

Sans hesitated, inexplicably feeling like he was somehow betraying Papyrus. But he really wanted to go. Toriel paused and held out a hand to him as she stepped in and Sans found himself unable to refuse her and climbed up as well. 

Serif, the only monster still on the ground, eyed them all for a moment before Asgore called out, "Now, now Dr. Serif, come along. I'm certain your brother is fine, please, let us begin the tour." Serif nodded, giving a final glance towards where Papyrus waited before climbing up the steps to join them. Sans wondered if he was the only one who noticed the small, victorious smile on Serif's face.

…

Later that evening, back at the Serif brother's home, Sans noticed a scrap of paper lying crumbled next to the kitchen garbage can. He picked it up, planning to help it complete its failed journey to the great bin beyond, when he noticed that he'd seen this scrap before. Gently unfolding it, the innocuous piece of trash turned into a Ride the Ducks receipt for six tickets. 

Undyne, Alphys, Toriel, Asgore, Sans, Papyrus and Serif. Shouldn't it have been for seven tickets? 

"Hey, Serif?" Sans called out.

"Yeah, buddy?" Serif's friendly voice called back from the living room.

"You never bought a ticket for Papyrus, did you...?" There was a sound of shuffling clothes as Serif got to his feet. After a moment he appeared in the kitchen doorway. Sans held up the receipt. "You already knew he wouldn't ride with us."

"Give me that," Serif demanded flatly, holding out his hand. Sans pulled the paper back reflexively, surprised at the sudden change in atmosphere. The blank look Serif gave him was chilling in its familiarity and Sans blinked, a distracted part of him wondering what the Judgment Hall in this universe was like. 

When Sans fail to give him the paper, his eye sockets narrowed and he reached out, snatching it from Sans's grasp. It tore, the bulk of it ending up in Serif's grip. He looked at it and smiled, before crumpling it up and tossing it in his mouth. 

Sans gaped at him as Serif chewed and swallowed it, never breaking eye contact. "Alright bud, good talk," he said jovially, all good humor and cheer again. It was like someone had flipped a switch. "Now, if you don't mind, I gotta see a guy about a dongle." With that he whirled on his heel and strode out of the kitchen.

Still in shock, Sans could only stare after him. Looking down at the tiny scrap of paper still clutched between his phalanges, he tried to process what happened. It was still obviously a receipt for Ride the Ducks, but now all ticket information and cost was gone. 

"Sans?" Papyrus's tentative voice drifted into his thoughts and he looked up to see his brother's doppleganger peeking into the kitchen, one hand tightly gripping the doorframe. "I just saw my brother, and… well, is everything all right?

He didn't know what to say. _Oh, heya Papyrus. I just saw your brother swallow what might potentially have been incriminating evidence of something._ No one would believe what just happened. Stars, Sans could hardly believe it himself, and he'd just experienced it.

"Sans?" Papyrus repeated, concern rising in his voice. 

Forcing a grin back onto his face he pocketed the useless bit of paper. "Hey Papyrus," he said, trying to put more cheer into his voice than he felt. There was something funny here, but he didn't have enough pieces of the puzzle yet. This Papyrus had enough signs of anxiety, and until he had something concrete Sans didn't want to give him anything else to worry about. 

"Yeah, everything's fine. Wanna go watch a movie?"


	10. The Accident, pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Topic of the Day- Trauma
> 
> Featuring Red (UF!Sans) and Blueberry (US!Sans). Post pacifist on the surface. And everything was going so well too.
> 
> I wrote this, and I feel terrible about it :P It won't get any better, sorry, this IS Angstober after all!

Taking advantage of the pause at the red traffic light, Red looked over at his partner in the passenger seat. Blue was rambling excitedly over all the cards and gifts he'd gotten at the baby shower. One hand was on his eco-belly, the other was holding every card up for Red to inspect and nod appreciatively at for the third or fourth time time each. Which he did of course, because it made Blue happy. When Blue was happy, he was happy.

Damn, Blue was cute, and Red couldn't help the sappy grin on his face. 

The light turned green and Red put the car into gear as he heard Blue huff good naturedly. "Can you believe this card from Papy?" He asked, holding up the offending card with a smile. Red took a peek. There was a picture on the front of two halves of an avocado. The text read, "holy guacomole, you're going to avo baby!"

Red laughed. Really, that one had been his favorite. He was about to say so when he saw the truck outside Blue's window. 

"Shit! Blue!" he cried out, throwing his arm out across Blue as the world erupted in the sound of broken glass and screeching metal.

…

Blue was on his back, and all around him was chaos. A light flashed in front of his eye sockets, once, twice, three times. When it pulled away he realized he was moving, looking a ceiling as he followed a series of square tiles down an impossibly long hallway.

"…skeleton monster, equivalent 27 weeks pregnant…"

There were humans all around him, some touching him, some asking him questions. Faces filled and left his vision faster than he could focus on them. 

He felt something sharp prick his right heel, and he tried to pull it back, but strong hands held him down. There was the distinctive feel of a needle being driven the the ecto flesh along his upper arm, and he found he couldn't move those either. He tried to speak, tried to ask what was happening, but the words wouldn't come out.

"…lateral mvc, gcs 9, e3 v2 m4…

There was a jarring motion as he was lifted and yanked sideways. He cried out, pain, sharp, twisting, burning _pain_ erupting across his pelvis. 

The hands were on him again, pulling at his clothes. He saw a pair of scissors, and he tried to cry out to them, to beg them to please, please don't cut his clothes. Red had bought this outfit for him, Red had picked it out just for-

Stars, where was Red? 

As if Blue had summoned him by thought alone, he heard Red's voice screaming, crying, from somewhere outside the circle of humans around him. 

"Get the fuck off'a me, y'bastards! Fuckin' help him! Help _him!_ "

Blue was shivering, his clothing gone. The pain had started to recede, ever so slightly. The hands never stopped touching him, poking and prodding his naked bones and blue magic. His hip _hurt_ , and he didn't know what was happening to his baby. Someone pressed something cold and sticky to his ribs, and then another, and another. It felt gross against his summoned flesh. There was a constant, frantic beeping sound coming from a machine by his head.

"…pelvic fracture, magic hypotensive…"

A pair of eyes leaned into his field of vision, commanding his attention. It was a human doctor, with a mask over their nose and mouth and strange, tight hat on their head. They were saying something, their voice calm and commanding. They were talking about his baby.

"…your baby. The team is going to be doing a lot of things, try to focus on taking deep breaths…"

Ok, he could do that. He inhaled, then exhaled, and the doctor nodded. There was more pain, this time across his abdomen. Gulping air, he stared at the light on the ceiling, struggling to breathe, to just keep breathing like he'd been told. In and out, ignoring the hands and needles and fear.

In and out, in and out, in and…. out…


	11. The Accident, pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is sad. I mean, I know I wrote sad stuff before but this is something else. If you read part one, and you remember that this is Angstober, you might know what's going to happen next.
> 
> I recommend you find something soft and fluffy to hug afterwards, I think you'll need it.
> 
> Sorry about this.

Red was fucking scared. No, worse than that, he was terrified out of his ever loving skull. At first he'd fought the humans that came to help, struggling to reach Blue. The crash had busted multiple bones, the worst being his shattered ulna and radius. They dangled uselessly, threads of magic barely keeping them from scattering across the ground. But that had been nothing, he could handle broken bones, he wasn't going to die.

Pickup trucks weren't usually known for their intent to kill. 

But he'd seen Blue. Now, every time he blinked he saw Blue, his namesake magic spilled across the pavement in an ever increasing puddle. Asgore's hairy ass, he'd had no idea a monster could lose that much magic and still be alive. But Blue wasn't dust, Red had seen him, and he wasn't dust.

So when they'd arrived at the hospital he'd yelled at the doctors, screamed at the nurses, did everything he could think of to get them to pay attention to _Blue, not him._

They'd removed his jacket, and were trying to remove his shirt to look for more injuries. They were actually cutting the fucking thing off him! He knew they were just doing their job, but it didn't matter! He needed to find Blue, they need to help Blue!

Someone grabbed his unbroken arm, forcing him to look up into the face of a human nurse. "Hey! Hey you, what's your name, sir?"

He couldn't believe the gall of this human, who the hell did she think she was?? "Get the fuck off'a me, y'bastards! Fuckin' help him! Help _him!_ "

"Help me out here, sir," she ordered, a hint of steel in her tone. "Please, if you don't calm down we will have to sedate you."

Fighting to pull his arm out her grip, he snarled at her, the feral gesture showing off everyone of his sharp fangs. "Like I give a damn?! Help him!"

She was face to face with an angry monster in pain and she barely flinched. Red couldn't help but be the tiniest bit impressed as she stood her ground and glared right back at him.

"Sir, I'm trying but I need you to work with me here, and you can't help them if you're sedated!"

Shit, she was right. Blue needed him. "Fuck, fuck! I'll calm down, a'ight?" He stopped pulling against her, and she released his arm. He tried to look around for Blue, and couldn't see him anymore. "Where is he? What's going on with him?

"Your friend is being taken to surgery, and the doctors are doing everything they can to help her and her baby- Uh, I mean, help him and his baby." 

Red could have laughed. Like this was the fucking time to be concerned about Stars damned pronouns? He held it in, worried that if he started laughing he might never stop.

Fuck, he needed to get ahold of Stretch. "Lady, please, come on, where's my jacket? I got'a call his brother!"

She looked around, and shouted a quick, "Hey!" across the room. A young man in grey turned and began to make his way towards them, although Red didn't have the slightest clue how he'd heard the single syllable through all the commotion.

"We can't let you make a call right now until you get admitted- hold on- I said hold on!" she exclaimed, her hands up as he shouted his dismay. "I'll make the call for you. What's your name?"

"San- fuck! Red. Name's Red." What the hell name was he supposed to give them anyway? There was something he certainly didn't have the fucking time for! "I need'ya to call Stretch, he's in my contacts."

"Got it. Now," she said, pulling the youth in front of Red. He looked about as happy with the situation as Red felt. "While I do that, Mark here is going to get your history and we're going to get a look at that arm, alright Mr. Red?"

Red nodded, he didn't think he was going to get a better deal. "Make sure Blue's ok for me, will ya? And if you can, call my bro- ah, fuck, nevermind, he might come down here. Just let Stretch know, okay?" She nodded, flashed him a thumbs up, and disappeared off into the crowd.

"Now, Mr. uh, Red?" Mark began timidly. "I have just a few questions for you…" Red grimaced, already regretting that he let himself be talked into compliance. 

…

Sometime later, Red, his arm freshly stabilized, was sitting up as Mark was carefully taping up his ribs. He didn't know how long it'd been. Might have been ten minutes, might have been an hour. They'd pumped him full of pain meds, and he was pleased that everything seemed so much more tolerable now. 

"Heh, kinda nice not having to deal with all that fleshy junk, huh?" He asked, and the kid just nodded as he gently wrapped up one of Red's floating ribs. Fuck, he was young. He looked like he couldn't be more than 16, but Red didn't think humans allowed teenagers to work in hospitals. At least, he was pretty sure. 

He had to admit though, the human had a skill for wrapping up bones.

There was a new commotion from the doors to the front, and Red looked up to see Stretch pushing his way inside, his cell phone still clasped tightly in his fist. Humans in colorful scrubs rushed him from all sides, shouting and trying to push him back out the doorway. His eye lights, blown wide with fear, fell on Red, and he took a step back from the humans, and vanished.

There's a _pop_ of displaced air and suddenly Stretch was leaning over Red's hospital cart, grabbing at his shoulder joint. Mark jumped back with a yell, and Red flinched as his hand tweaked a rib. 

"Red! Oh, Stars Red! What's happened? Where's Sans?" Stretch's grip on his arm was too tight, but Red couldn't seem to care.

"Stretch, there ya' are. It was a fuckin' crash, man. Fuckin' truck. Don't worry, Nurse Rachet's taking care of Blue. She said she would." He smiled up at Stretch, trying to reassure him. Stretch didn't look reassured. "They got me on all kinds'a fuckin' stuff right now. It's a trip, heh."

The confused look on Stretch's face was priceless, though Red knew it shouldn't be.

Stretch scowled down at Mark, who couldn't stop staring. Red didn't blame him, an angry Papyrus was one hell of a sight. "What did you do to him?"

"It- it's just demerol, for the pain," Mark stuttered out. "He'll b-be fine, he just has a couple fractures."

"Where's my brother?" Stretch demanded, growing more and more agitated. "Where's Sa- Blue? Whatever the hell he's here under!"

Red's concentration began to wander when he noticed a group of humans coming their way. Behind them he could see the tough nurse lady talking to someone in surgeon scrubs. "Heya, Stretch," he called, hitting the tall monster's chest with the back of his hand to get his attention. "There's Nurse Ratchet. She can tell ya'."

The nurse stared at the surgeon for a moment, then turned towards Red. Their gazes locked, and her eyes filled with tears. 

Oh. Oh fuck, that was bad, wasn't it?

There was the sharp sound of cracking glass as Stretch's phone hit the tiled floor. 

"Red, Stars Red…" There was pure, unadulterated horror in Stretch's voice. "We need a Reset. We have to get Frisk."

"…Yeah," Red replied. His Soul felt like a block of ice in his chest, heavy and immobile. He couldn't breathe. He glanced at the wreck of Stretch's smartphone lying shattered on the ground. "Ratchet's got my phone."

...

Frisk Dreemur was lying on the living room floor, working on solving a Monster Kid Crossword while Toriel sat on the couch behind them, a book titled, "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" clutched delicately in her paws.

There was the _vrr! vrr!_ of a cell phone ringing on silent, and Frisk pulled it out of their pocket, looking at their mom before answering. Toriel glanced at the clock, then smiled, nodding her permission.

Frisk looked at the display, and saw that Red was calling. He and Blue were going to have their baby soon, and Frisk was going to be the best cousin ever. The thought of all the fun they were someday going to have filled them with Determination. They saved the game and answered the call.


	12. A Walk from the Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans, too drunk to teleport walks home and makes a new, creepy friend.
> 
> This one's not so angsty, but I had fun with it.

Sans was halfway home from Grillby's, walking down the sidewalk by the park when he felt a strange prickle across his Soul. Something almost like a shortcut opened and abandoned. He paused, and heard the sound of a child, crying out.

It wasn't that he was out so late because he was a little too tipsy to take a shortcut home, no, of course not. He just like to see the stars, and it was a nice cloudless night to enjoy a good walk home. Anyone that said otherwise was a dirty liar.

"Cat! Here, Cat-Cat, please come down!" Cried the little girl's voice again, from just inside the park.

A small cynical voice told him to keep walking. He was drunk, alone, and Sans had already had more than enough experience with human children to last him a lifetime.

But there was something strange in the air, a sense of a half memory that almost seemed familar. It bothered him. He turned towards the sound and left the sidewalk, heading into the park. 

There, about twenty feet away, was a girl with hair in braided pigtails, crying for a small kitten in a tree. He stopped, not wanting to frighten her in the dark by getting too close. 

"Hey kid, need a hand?"

She glanced his way quickly, then back to the cat, as if afraid it would disappear if she took her eyes off it for too long. "Yes, please! Please, my kitten won't come down!"

"Sure thing, I can help you with that, if you want." And he stepped in to view.

If the girl had any concerns about a literal monster stepping out of the dark and coming towards her, she didn't show it. He gave a sigh of relief. Kids were funny like that. What might make an adult scream and run away in terror, a kid could just nonchalantly accept as perfectly normal.

Sans looked up at the cat. It was either the whitest grey or the greyest white he'd ever seen. And really, really tiny. It watched him warily, but seemed content on its choice of perch, already accepting its new life as a bird.

Closing his left eye, he didn't want to push his luck and spook the kid with a light show, he wrapped the kitten's soul in blue magic, and lifted it up quickly before it's claws could dig into the bark. He only intended to lift it a few inches, but he must have overestimated its weight, because it shot about two feet in the air and the girl cried out.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Sans said as he brought the kitten down gently. It was strange how his magic seemed to wrap around all of the kitten, not just its Soul.

Wow, he'd have to try using blue magic while tipsy more often, that was ridiculously easy.

The girl wrapped both hands around the cat as it came close, pulling it to her chest where it mewed happily and buried its face into her neck.

"Oh thank you, thank you thank you thank you!" She said, turning for the first time to face him directly.

Holy shit. Sans took an involuntary step backwards at the sight. The far side of the girl's head was a mess of blood and scraped skin. Out loud he said, "Uh, what happened, kid?"

She looked confused for a second, checking the cat like it was the one injured, before realizing he was looking at her face. She brought a hand up to touch her hair, but then pulled it back and snuggled the cat instead. 

"I was trying to find Cat, but she ran into the street. A car made me crash my bike and I got banged up."

He eyed the wound, trying to decide how bad it was. It looked pretty gruesome, but it wasn't actively bleeding and the kid hardly seemed to even know it was there. When she looked at him, he noticed that her eyes were faintly purple. Years on the surface had taught him that wasn't a normal human eye color, and Sans wondered if the girl had mage blood somewhere in her family.

"Why don't you let me use some healing magic on you kid? I'm pretty shi... I'm not so great at it, but maybe I can help?"

"No, that's okay, it doesn't even hurt!" She said proudly, like it was an accomplishment to be desensitized to a mauling. "That's 'cuz I'm tough. My parents always tell me that I'm tough, and I am!"

"Woah. Alright then. Oh, hey," he asked as a thought occurred to him, "how are you going to carry your cat on your bicycle?"

Her face fell, eyes going wide in concern. Apparently she hadn't thought of that one.

He chuckled. "Well you've gotta live pretty close nearby right?" He asked, and she nodded. "Why don't I give you a hand with that then. You hold the cat, I'll walk the bike."

She nodded furiously, snuggling the cat and actually did a little twirl of happiness. "Oh thank you! I crashed over here!" She led him to the bush where her pink and white bicycle fell, waiting for her. He picked it up… and found that it was completely mangled.

The bike didn't look like she had just crashed into the bushes, it looked like it had been hit by a car. The handlebars were twisted beyond recognition, one pedal was missing entirely, and the front tire wobbled alarmingly as he pushed it. But it didn't fall apart.

It was a wonder the kid wasn't more badly hurt.

"Jeez kid, don't you have a helmet?" He asked, eyeing the damage.

She made a face, frowning at the ground. "I don't like my helmet. It's ugly."

"Well, you're lucky you didn't crack your skull open with a fall like that." Kids sure were resilient little things.

The girl nodded, and, clutching the cat tightly to her chest, began walking. After a moment, he followed behind her. It wasn't directly towards the house he shared with Papyrus, but it was close, and he was glad he was still kind of heading home.

Her silence didn't last long, and soon she was chatting up a storm. Sans learned about her big brother, and her parents, and her cat. 

Cat was, apparently, short for Catarina. He let her dominate the conversation, humming agreeably or giving the occasional "Oh, really?" as needed. At one point she stopped and trembled suddenly as a lone cloud passed in front of the moon.

"Hey, are you cold, kid?" he asked. She shook her head in denial.

"No, I'm tough," she reaffirmed. "I was cold earlier, but I'm not anymore."

But he was already shrugging off his jacket and offering it out to her. She looked at it like it offended her, her glare telling him everything he needed to know about what she thought of his chivalry. Even the cat appeared to be staring in disapproval, but then again, that seemed to be the default face for cats in general.

"I'm tough." She said it like a challenge, daring him to contradict her. After a horrid bike crash, a head injury, the easy acceptance of an actual monster popping out of the dark, the pitch black walk home… Yeah, she was tough.

"Heh, you sure are, kiddo," he agreed, admitting defeat and pulling his jacket back on.

They continued the walk, and she began to tell him about what had happened tonight.

"Cat got outside, and Mom said she was going to lock her out all night. I didn't want Cat to sleep outside. I got my bike and followed her over to the park. Cat ran across the road… and I didn't look…" she trailed off.

"The car?" He prompted after a moment.

She nodded, hugging the cat tight enough to make it squeak in protest. "Uh huh. That was scary," she whispered like it was a secret. "But I heard Cat meowing, and I had to find her. And then you came to help me!" She finished brightly, flashing him a million watt smile.

Something behind him caught her eye and she yelled suddenly, "There!" He spun around quickly, looking for trouble, preparing to grab the girl and shortcut if needed. The walk had definitely sobered him up by now, he felt ready to throw down for whatever needed to happen.

"That's my house!"

Sans let out a sigh. "Way to give me a Soul attack, kid." He dropped is magic and looked at the house. It was easy to tell which one she was talking about, obviously the oone with the pink and white child play house in the front yard. Next to it was a green helmet lying in the grass.

There were still lights on in the house, and Sans could see the shadowy forms of humans moving inside.

"That's not a bad helmet," Sans said conversationally as he walked over. "You should probably wear it next time though. I'll just put your bike next to the little house, okay?"

"Okay," she said, but her voice had dropped, suddenly very quiet. He wondered if she'd seen her parents in the window. "I gotta go now Mr. Sans. Thank you for taking me home."

Laying the bike down, he glanced at the window to see if anyone was looking out. Maybe she was trying to sneak back inside rather than face her parents. 

"No problem kid. Just happy you... Hey wait a minute," Sans froze, going over the few things he'd actually said on his walk. His name hadn't been one of them. "How do know my name?" He turned back to her, but all he saw was a purple heart, dissipating into the air like a glistening smoke cloud. The was a tiny white heart next to it that faded as well, both disappearing to nothing as the drifting up to the sky.

In the distance, he heard sirens. And saw the flashing lights of an ambulance in the near distance pulling up to the park. It stopped in front of the park, right where he'd been walking.


	13. Puppet, Mary's Theme - Sans version

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Puppet, Mary's Theme is one of the saddest songs I know, and I thought it'd make a good au.
> 
> Song today, should have the story up tomorrow!

So... I tried to sing it. Tried. But I had fun with it, so I'm happy about that! 

Sans (Puppet Mary's theme parody).wav  
https://soundcloud.com/adequate-pipe/sans-puppet-marys-theme-parody

-LYRICS-

Welcome to my home, hardwired with sadness. There's no life or love, and you can't hear any sound all.  
Here I'm waiting quietly for you father. Why were you so cruel why'd you leave me here alone?

Please take me with you, I desperately promise, to be a good subject, and worthy of your love.  
I'll withstand the science, the tests, and injections, just tell me why you'd left your notes and then gone?

Who are you stranger, with that cute stick in your hand? I liked you from the first sight, I want to be your friend, let's play!  
I never asked for this place that's called my home, I hope that you will be staying with me until the end.

Please don't be scared of me, I'm a good monster, I want you to stay so I'll forget my sorrows.  
I'm tired of being alone in the silence, so tell me, why do you want to go with that guy?

Is he your cool bro, in that awesome armor? For whom you'd sacrifice your soul, if it would just keep him safe… But hey, why does he look like the one who created this Labyrinth of Horrors from which I had been born?

My tears are falling, why is it so painful? I did nothing wrong, so why do you hate me so? Now this Burning lab will be your only answer, the Dark of the Void now consuming my Soul.

Welcome to his home, we call it the true lab. There's a sea of fire, there is no way to run away. He only wanted to be with his father, now little Sans is melting in the Void all alone.


	14. The Core Lab, pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, this was supposed to be a lot shorter, but then I just- kept- writing! It's still a tragedy, so I'm putting it here. It's a light tragedy, though.
> 
> This is a Frisk chapter, in an AU that has a Papyrus, but they've never known a Sans.

Once Frisk had found a key with the logo of the core on one side and three strange symbols on the other, it had only been a matter of time until they found the door that it opened. It was a puzzle, and they were determined to solve every puzzle in the underground.

Two weeks had gone by when finally, deep in the Core, at the end of a seldom used corridor they found a door. It was easy to see why it had been overlooked. 

It appeared to be nothing more than a maintenance door, on the end of a particularly complicated conveyor belt laser puzzle that Frisk had only solved once before. There was also a plaque next to the door labeled, "Maintenance."

But there, on the end of the handle, were engraved the three symbols from the key. A weird cross, a thumbs down, and a finger pointing up.

Frisk put the key into the deadbolt lock, and it slid home. A perfect fit. Breath held in suspense, they turned the knob and pulled. It opened slowly, the hinges creaking quietly with disuse, to a long hallway. The walls were mint green over a grey linoleum floor, and there was a heavy smell of dust and antiseptic.

It looked like the labs. But Frisk was certain that there wasn't any part of the labs that opened up to the core. At least, they had been certain. 

There was the dim flicker of distant fluorescent lights coming from the end of the corridor, and they stepped inside. Moving step by step, Frisk listened closely for any signs of life as they crept down the hallway. 

It was completely silent. Not just quiet, but a dead, heavy silence that eveloped them like an opressive blanket. Even the echo of their footsteps off the nearby walls hardly seemed to reach back to their ears.

Frisk turned the corner and the corridor opened up to a wide room, brightly lit under a dozen long florescent lights with a pair of double doors open on both ends. Walking through the room, Frisk could see beds lining the walls, six on each side. They were tidy, and neatly made under green sheets to match the walls. All except the last on the right. That bed was a disheveled mess, blankets crumpled into a ball on the center of the striped mattress. 

Reaching a hand out to touch the messy bed, Frisk froze. There was a voice drifting in from beyond the doorway. It was a boy's voice, young but deep, and he was singing. The words were quiet, but they seemed to pierce through the barrier of silence, each word soft and clear.

"…welcome to my world, hard-wired with sadness…"

Frisk went cold. Had somebody seen them? They couldn't see anyone, and as the singing continued they crept closer to the large doorway.

"…there's no life or love, and you can't hear any sound at all…"

She follow the sound, tiptoeing through the double doors into another hallway, this one lined with doors. The song seemed to be coming from a door only a few rooms away.

"…here I'm waiting quietly, for you, father…"

Slowly, they snuck up to the partially open door, there was no doubt the singer was inside. She put her eye to the opening, and looked through the crack.

Inside, sitting on the floor was a boy in a white T-shirt, his back turned towards her. He was bald, his head white under the pale florescent lights. He was fidgeting with something in his hands, but she couldn't see what it was from the doorway.

"…why were you so cruel, why'd you leave me here alone?"

There was something… wrong about the way he looked. It was hard to put their finger on why it was so disturbing, but there was just something about the way his head movements seemed stilted, not quite moving with the song, and he seemed almost fuzzy around the edges.

The words were haunting, sung slowly in the boy's low pitch. "Please take me with you, I desperately promise, to be a good subject and worthy of your love. I'll withstand the science, the tests, the injections, just tell me why you'd left your notes and then gone…"

The boy went quiet, and Frisk gently knocked on the door, trying to get his attention. The boy spun to face them and frisk saw that hair wasn't the only thing he was missing. He didn't have skin or muscles either.

The skeleton monster had a large grin on his face, but it contrasted strangely with the fear in his large eye sockets. She only had a moment to notice the details, when he vanished entirely. The rubix cube he'd been fidgeting with dropped to the ground, the clatter of plastic against linoleum echoing off the walls of the empty room.

Frisk had a red Soul, not an orange one. After the creepy hallway, the creepier beds, the terrifying silence, and now a literal vanishing ghost…? 

Frisk ran. 

Past the beds, past the hallway, leaping out the not maintenance door into the core, and slamming it behind them.

They kept running. Past the conveyor belt, past the lasers, until they reach the platform with the elevators, and they ran full-bodied into Papyrus.

"Oh, human, there you are! Don't you know how worried we've all been for you!"

[Papyrus! Papyrus!] they signed frantically, climbing back to their feet. [I found a door! And a scary room! And a ghost!]

"What? Wait, slow down! I can hardly understand you!"

[I'll show you!] Frisk signed before grabbing Papyrus's glove and dragging him down the hallway despite his protests.

Twisting from one corridor to another, Frisk continued to sign one handed, searching for the path that would lead them back to the door. Papyrus was quiet, letting Frisk lead him wordlessly through the maze-like Core.

When they came to a three way split, Frisk paused. They were pretty sure this was supposed to be a T junction... Looking left, then right, Frisk's heart sank when they realized they were lost.

[This isn't right,] Frisk signed, confused. [Where's the conveyor belt?]

Papyrus patted them encouragingly on the shoulder, hard enough to make them wince. "It's alright, friend Frisk! Perhaps you've simply had a long day? There are plenty of interesting things in the Core, but the only Lab is in Hotlands!"

[But, no, I know I saw it!] Frisk stomped their foot in dismay. [You believe me, right?]

"Of course I do! I simply think that we should go home and rest, and tomorrow we will regroup and find your ghost!" Papyrus gave them one of his biggest smiles, and Frisk felt their heart swell with love for the tall monster. He was the best.

Nodding, Frisk signed their agreement. Together, they headed back. Frisk might have been lost, but Papyrus maneuvered the pathways as if he'd been born there. Every once and a while he would pause to look at a puzzle, giving an approving hum or an irritated tut as required by his internal logic. 

Still, they reached the elevators in what seemed to be record time. Frisk knew that puzzles were his specialty, but still couldn't help but be impressed by his incredible navigation skill as well.

Pressing the elevator call button, Papyrus looked down at Frisk, waiting patiently by his side. "Now, I must send you on alone, dear human. While passing by, I saw quite a few puzzles that were shameful in their obviously uncalibrated state! I simply must go back, for the Great Papyrus will not allow this level of neglect to get in the way of a properly functioning Core! Will you be alright to go on ahead?"

Although Frisk had been looking forward to walking back with him, they nodded in agreement. Papyrus cared so much about all the puzzles Underground that he would maintenance even the ones that weren't directly his responsibility.

The elevator arrived with a ding! and Frisk climbed in. [I'll see you at home!] they signed, pressing the L1 button. The doors closed, and the elevator began its decent.

….

As soon as the elevator doors had shut, Papyrus turned and began walking back through the Core. He hadn't lied, exactly. Some of the puzzles were in terrible shape, he wanted the Core to stay functional, and he was going back.

It just happened to be that these three things were all unrelated.

Walking briskly, his boots thudding a confident beat down the myriad of passageways, Papyrus reached the conveyor puzzle before the "Maintenance" door, frowning at it. 

Conveyors were awful, and should never be used. This one even had lasers. Awful. He'd forgotten about this particular wreck of a puzzle, which was probably why he hadn't thought of the door in so long.

Frankly, Papyrus was surprised Frisk had made it this deep into the Core. When the human had tried to lead him back, though they had taken a convoluted path, it had very quickly become obvious where Papyrus was being lead to.

And, by extention, what their "ghost" was.

When the human had taken a wrong turn over one of those irritating vent puzzles, Papyrus had nearly sighed in relief. He'd have time to come up with an answer, some kind of story to put the child's mind to rest and stop the prying. But first, he had something to check on.

Very carefully, Papyrus solved the puzzle and walked up to the door. A small key waited for him in the deadbolt. He relocked the door and pulled the key out, examining the markings. The logo for the Core on one side, and WDG on the other. 

It wasn't a copy, he could feel the distinctive, almost glitchy feel of Gaster's magic humming over the symbols. With a sigh, he opened up his inventory and dropped the key inside.

Papyrus would have rather dropped the key over the railing and into the lava, but he'd already destroyed this key once. Who knows where it would end up next if he tried again.

Better to just keep it safely with him. 

He crossed back over the conveyor puzzle, reactivating it, and recalibrating it to 1.5x speed. The machinery wouldn't hold up to that speed for long, but hopefully Frisk wouldn't be able to get past it again. He'd just come back later, after they'd forgotten about the door, and fix the puzzle once more.

Although, even if they did make it through, that door wouldn't be opening any time soon. He had the key now, and as long as he had magic flowing through his bones he was going to make sure that door stayed closed.


	15. Trick or Treat (Finders Keepers)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silly little Blueberries, you should have listened to your big brother.
> 
> Welcome to the show, Yandere Papyrus.

Papyrus didn’t just dislike Stretch. No, it was more than that. Papyrus **hated** Stretch. 

He didn't understand it, Stretch had not only one Sans, but two! And unlike the Great Papyrus himself, he consistently failed to keep his brothers safe. They were always outside, fighting each other, sparring with each other, edging each other on into greater and greater conflicts. Broken bones were not uncommon for them! 

And Stretch? He didn't do anything. Ever. In fact, on occasion Papyrus had even seen him encouraging the bad behavior! It made Papyrus want to grind his teeth just thinking about it. The two little Sans’s, known around the neighborhood as the Blueberries, were young, still children! Didn’t Stretch know how dangerous it was to let them run around like that?

Papyrus looked over at his own brother, who was sitting quietly on the couch. He had the best brother. Sans, feeling the weight of his brother’s gaze, looked up. When he met Papyrus’s eye lights, his smile widened. Papyrus smiled back at him, pleased. He liked to see his brother happy, and especially liked his brother’s smile. And Sans was a quick learner, now he always smiled when Papyrus was around.

“Sans?” He asked, letting his eyes drift out towards the window. Out of the corner of his socket Papyrus saw the smile dim a little bit, but that was okay. Sans was still smiling.

“Yeah, Papyrus?” Sans replied dutifully.

“I was thinking, how would you like to have two more brothers?”

When his question didn't get a reply, Papyrus turn back to face him directly. “Sans?” Papyrus asked again. Sans was just looking at him, eye lights shrunk to tiny white pinpricks in his skull. “I asked you a question, brother.”

For a fraction of a second, Sans eye lights disappeared completely and the smile dropped to a neutral line. It was the closest thing to opposition that Papyrus his seen from Sans in years.

Quickly, his brother's face return to normal, his casual grin back in position as if it had never disappeared in the first place. But Papyrus had seen the almost frown, and he didn't like it. 

“Whatever you'd like, bro,” Sans replied, “you know best.”

Papyrus narrowed his eyes in disapproval, and beads of sweat began to form on Sans’s skull. Of course, it didn't matter really what his brother thought. Like Sans had said, Papyrus did know what was best. And he began to prepare.  
...  
The Magnificent Sans and The Sensational Sans were as close as any two brothers could be. They agreed on everything- clothing styles, fighting styles, their love for their big brother, Papy… Everything! They were two peas in a pod. And so on Halloween came, of course it was only fitting that they decided to dress up as a matching set.  
Mario and Luigi! A pair of hero brothers that teamed up to defeat the villain and rescue the princess, what could be better?

They spent weeks working out the details, hand sewing the costumes and practicing their Italian plumber dialog until everything was perfect. They tried to get their brother into the game, but like always, he was too lazy. Though he was always happy to give them praise from the couch, and they soaked it up eagerly. 

“Papy! It’s a-me, Mario! Look at my costume!”

“No, Papy, look at mine! I’m a-Luigi, number one!”  
.  
“You both look amazing, bros,” Stretch assured them, “but shouldn't you be heading out soon though? The sun's about to set.”

“You're right! Wa-hoo!”

“Oh yeah! Let’s-a go!” 

After a brief struggle for dominance over the doorway, they both made it outside and began their hunt for houses with active porch lights. Everywhere they went people cooed and awwed over the two of them, and their candy haul grew.

They'd been outside for nearly two hours, and had amassed what seemed to surely be a lifetime’s worth of candy when they reached the edge of their neighborhood. The street was dark, but as they crossed the road a single porchlight turned on.

“Hey-a Luigi! Let’s-a go to that house!”

“Sure-a thing, Mario! ...hey, wait! Isn’t that the other Papy’s house?”

They both paused, looking down at the house. They had only met their brother’s weird, older lookalike a few times. The tall monster seemed nice enough, but Papy had told them he didn’t want them hanging out the guy. There was another skeleton that lived there, but they’d only seen him through the window, and had never seen him outside.

“Yeah, I think you’re right. Maybe we should just skip it.”

“No way! If he’s just like Papy, then just think of all the candy he’ll give us!”

“If he’s like Papy then he’ll just eat it all himself! I bet we wouldn’t get more than a single fun bar!”  
“You’re on! I bet my whole bag that he’ll let us have a much as we want!”

Game set and terms decided, they marched arm in arm up to the house. There weren’t any Halloween decorations on the lawn, not so much as a single Jack-o-Lantern, but the porchlight _was_ on. They rang the doorbell and held their candy bags out. The door open, and in cheerful chorus they both called out, “Trick or Treat!”

…

Papyrus smiled down at the two faces eagerly grinning up at him. They looked absolutely adorable in their little matching costumes. 

“Oh, it's so good to see you two! Happy Halloween! Oh my stars,” he said, dramatically putting a hand to his forehead, “I left the bowl of candy on the table. Won't you come in and grab some? I haven't had many trick-or-treaters today, so you can have as much of it as you want!”

He stepped aside to let them see the coffee table with the aforementioned candy bowl on top. “Luigi” gave his brother a smug look and stepped inside. “Mario” followed, looking sore. 

Walking around to put the table between himself and the Blueberries, Papyrus used one hand to push the bowl forwards. With the other, he reached under the table to grab the two magic dampeners, careful to keep them out of view. 

The Blueberries greedily reached with outstretched hands to grab fistfuls of candy. Quick as a snake, Papyrus lashed out, a bracelet in each hand, and snapped one onto each extended little wrist. The locks clicked into place with twin _snaps!_ Raising his control hand, Papyrus turned their souls blue and flung them towards the far wall. They hit with a smash, sliding down to the ground.

“What?”

“Huh?”

The Blueberries faces were perfectly matched in their shock, and Papyrus felt his heart soar at how cute they looked. Pleased, he walked back to the front door, and shut it gently before locking both deadbolts. Then he shut the porch light off again.

“What's going on?”

“Why did you do that?”

He watched as they struggled to get the bracelets off. Without either keys or magic to assist them... they didn't get very far. He didn’t scold them for asking questions. There would plenty of time to teach them acceptable behavior, and he couldn’t expect them to know everything already. He could be lenient for now.

“You two are OUR brothers now,” Papyrus told them, careful to keep his voice soft and gentle.

They looked up at him, their eye sockets wide with horror. Papyrus caught a flash of movement off to the side, and Papyrus looked over to see Sans standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his eye lights dim and smile fixed in place.

“Isn't that right Sans?” He asked, voice as sweet as sugar.

Sans flinched, and gripped absent-mindedly at the new bandage on his forearm.

He had been the biggest fan of Papyrus's new plan. Papyrus had changed his mind.

Sans didn’t look at the Blueberries, preferring to stare at a spot directly in front of Papyrus’s boots. “S-sure, bro. Whatever you say.”

Papyrus felt so proud of his brother. He was a quick learner, after all. Looking back at the Blueberries, he gave them his grandest, most confident smile as he thought of all they great things they could do together as a family. 

If that stupid, idiotic, chain smoking brother of theirs wasn't going to keep them safe, Papyrus would have to step up to the task. If said brother wouldn't even bother to keep them from getting lost, then he didn’t deserve to have them. 

Finders keepers, after all.


	16. The Cat's (Lack of) Meow, pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does the internet say about how to make your readers cry? "Kill the dog!" ...Except I'm pretty sure that thing is literally invincible. But that's okay! I have a perfectly mortal cat right here!
> 
> It's a beautiful day outside on the UF surface. And we all love beautiful days, don't we?
> 
> This one's short, but I'm posting it anyway because the second half is already written. It just needs to be muscled into an edited shape and will be up tomorrow.

Red noticed that there was something off with Doomfanger lately. It wasn't obvious what it was exactly, but the beast seemed… tired. Of course, cats just slept a lot. He was probably overthinking it.

As he took the monthly bag of cat food into the kitchen, Red found the Beast with the Deadly Bite snoozing on the table in a patch of sunlight. His entrance barely provoked an ear twitch. That was a normal cat thing, right? Nothing to be concerned about.

Except the (possibly evil) creature hated him. In the past, the simple act of Red entering a room would have been insult enough for an irritated Doomfanger to stand up, hiss, and leave in a huff. 

Setting the new bag of cat food down, he grabbed the empty one. Only to find that it still was half full. Was the furry death machine not eating? Had Edge been buying wet food for it again? 

He wanted to go ask, but Edge wasn't speaking to him. As far as Red knew, he hadn't actually done anything wrong, but still Edge was pissed at him for something. It was too much effort to figure out what it was. Would probably blow over sooner or later anyhow.

Although he knew it would be playing with fire, Red walked over to the furball, getting right into prime shredding range. Clawzilla still didn't move. Standing next to the table, he stood in the sunlight, watching the fluffy chest rise and fall with steady breaths. Slowly, claws twitching in hesitation, he reached out and touched her side. She opened one bleary eye at him, blinked and then went back to snoozing.

Moving gingerly, past experiences giving an 80/20 odds of losing a finger, he stroked his claws down Doomfanger's body. Instead of mauling him for the henious transgression of daring to touch her gorgeous self without invitation, the Queen of Terror simply… let him pet her.

That was concerning, but concern flared into full blown worry with the realization that her fur was dirty. Grimy, even. 

Doomfanger was always prissy about keeping her fur shiny, soft and beautiful. Even more fastidious about perfection in cleanliness than Edge was, a fact that he hadn't thought possible until he lived with the creature himself. If whatever was wrong was enough to get her to stop grooming herself...

Well, looks like he needs to say something to Edge. That was pretty high on the "Shit Red Doesn't Want to Do Today" list. Fuck, it would probably turn out to be nothing and Edge'd bite his damn head off for it. But it was Edge's cat, and if it was something…

Edge was in the living room, sitting stock-still against the back of the couch. Some police reality show was playing on the TV, and it looked more like Edge was glaring at it than watching it.

"Heya, Boss?" Red began, stepping up next to the TV, but not blocking the view. Edge's eyelights didn't so much as flicker towards him. Shit, he was still pissed. "I think there's something wrong with your cat- hey, fuck!" Red shouted as he dodged to the side, a bone attack embedding itself into the wall where he'd been standing. "What the fuck Papyrus?!" 

"Don't make stupid statements," Edge said coldly, staring through him as if he could still see the TV. "Move. You're blocking my program."

"Stars damnit, Boss," he said, clenching his fist inside his pocket. This could be important. Now wasn't the time to loose his cool. "I know you've been mad at me for somethin', but-"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Edge interrupted as he finally brought his eyelights up to meet Red's. It was like staring into bloody ice. Cold, sharp and viscerally disturbing. It promised violence. "Move. I will not tell you a third time."

Hot anger fought with an actual flash of cold fear. "It's not well Boss. You need to-" Red froze as he felt blue magic grip his Soul. "B-Boss?"

Edge stood up, crimson eyelights locked onto Red with an extreme level of intensity that Red rarely saw from the already high strung monster. He didn't fight the magic, it would only make things worse for him.

"Of course Doomfanger is not 'doing well'," Edge hissed, his voice rising with every word, "you lazy, inattentive, nearsighted, sad-sack, shit excuse for a judge! She hasn't been well for over a MONTH!"

The last word was punctuated with a backhand strike across Red's jaw. As in control as always, Edge's sharp blow didn't take a single hit point away. But it sure hurt like a bitch.

That was enough for Red. "Well fuck you very much!" He shouted back, drawing on his own blue magic and severing the connection with his brother. He'd deal with the consequences later. "How the fuck was I s'posed to know? I'm a stars damned Judge of MONSTERS, not fuckin' CATS!"

Readying an attack, Red prepared to dodge out of the way if or when Edge lashed out again. But instead of escalating the situation, Edge's expression cracked. To Red's absolute horror he could see magic, unshed and wet, gathering in the corner of his brother's eyes.

Red's magic dropped in an instant, dissolving into nothing. "P... Papyrus...?"

"Then why," Edge asked softly, an uncharacteristic hitch in his voice, "didn't you notice something wrong with the monster?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there's a million headcanons for DF, but my favorite is that she's a Queen, fluffy and immaculate. Vicious to a fault, bane of all mice, rats, squirrels, birds and dogs within a four miles radius. Fur of the softest fluff imaginable, that she might, maybe, allow you to touch if she's feeling particularly generous and you grovel enough. Though you will be inspected for clean hands first.


	17. The Cat's (Lack of) Meow, pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's such a lovely day outside, let's all go to the vet! It you love animals, this might not be the chapter for you. 
> 
> Red and Edge have a very, very bad time.
> 
> ~~♡ So, Griiffin, did I make you cry yet?~~  
>  Back to the drawing board! *evil plans intensify*

"…thanks, Dr. Ball. We'll see ya then," Red said, hanging up the phone.

He walked back into the living room, where Edge still sat, Doomfanger lying listlessly on a pillow on his lap. A loud purr filled the room as Edge stroked her fur. She never purred for anyone other than Edge.

"Well?" He demanded. "What did they say? The doctor. About Doomfanger."

Oh, thanks for the clarification boss, without that I'da had no idea what you were talking about! The sarcastic reply formed automatically, and Red drew an exasperated claw down his face as he bit it back. He had to remember, it wasn't him that Edge was upset with. Well, at least not entirely. 

"It's hard to say over the phone, Boss. They're open this afternoon though, an' if we leave soon we'll make in before they close."

The movement was slight, but Red saw Edge tense, pulling Doomfanger closer to his body. "And once there, they will fix her?"

Red frowned. "She's pretty old. We've had her for, what, 15 years?"

Edge scoffed. "But she was so young we found her! She couldn't be more than maybe twenty at the very most!"

"Twenty is a long time fer'a cat." He answered with a shrug.

"You're wrong Sans." Edge said quietly, gently stroking the cat. "You'll see. We'll take Doomfanger to the doctor and they'll give her whatever medicine she needs. Then everything will be back to normal."

Damn his brother's eternal optimism. Red didn't know what to say to that. "Come on, Boss. I'll drive, you hold the cat."

Edge nodded, getting up slowly. The cat mewled in discomfort, and Edge moved even more gently, apologizing profusely at every motion.

They got into Edge's car in silence. It was a gorgeous, clear day outside, warm and perfect for a drive in the convertible. Red put the top up anyway, at Edge's insistence, for the cat's safety. Though it didn't seem like Doomfanger was going to be leaping out anytime soon.

It was a quiet ride to the veterinary clinic, broken only by the soft sounds of Edge whispering comfort to the still purring cat in his arms.

Once at the vet, Red pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine. "Hey, Boss." Edge didn't look up, but Red knew he was listening. "I'mma head in first, let 'em know we're here, fill out any papers. Then I'll come get'ya."

He didn't answer, but he didn't get out of the car when Red did either. He walked up to the cheery little wood and glass door. "New Ebbot Central Veterinary Clinic" was stenciled on the glass in Comic Sans. At least they had good taste. He smiled at that, opening the door. A little bell on the frame jingled merrily.

Inside a pair of human girls sat behind a counter in a cute, brightly lit little lobby. It was nicer than most, with plush carpet, clean walls and chairs that looked like something you'd actually enjoy sitting on.

As Red approached the front desk, the first girl smiled up at him. She was a blonde, in scrubs that looked like they'd been in close proximity to a birthday cupcake exsplosion. The second girl, with brown hair and sensible maroon scrubs, just stared at him. Not directly, of course. But he could feel her eyes on him every time he wasn't looking directly at her.

"Hello! Are you here about Doomfanger?" Cupcake Scrubs asked cheerfully.

Red nodded. "Yeah, got her out in the car with my brother. Just gonna make sure to check 'em in first."

"Of course. Dr. Ball made sure to have everything all ready for you right here," she said, passing him a clipboard and pen. Ugh, paperwork. The things he did for his brother. He made quick work of it, and passed it back.

"Hey, I, uh, well I just wanna ask that you not make a big deal about this to my bro," Red said as Cupcake scanned the forms. "Boss is, can be, a little sensitive sometimes. I guess what I'm sayin' is don't be going around showing him any over-the-top sympathy, 'cuz he ain't gonna take it well. He works real hard at being a hard-ass, ya' know? And this cat thing is messin' him up pretty bad." Red sighed. "If that's all, then I'll go an' get him."

As he turned around, he heard a smug Cupcake whisper to Sensible, "…Told you."

He didn't have a chance to say anything about it, because through the glass of the door he could see Edge approaching like an oncoming storm front. Red hurried over to it, the bell jangling frantically as he yanked it open. He was just in time to save it from Edge's booted foot, raised and ready to kick it open.

Edge turned the movement into a display of control, gracefully shifting his body to stand erect, ready to strike. The effect was only somewhat diminished by Doomfanger, held gently against his shoulder. He stepped inside and surveyed the room with a glance, his stance relaxing ever so slightly as he deemed the space hospitable.

"Come on now, Boss. You can't be doin' that to the human's doors," Red admonished, and regretted it immediately. Was he looking to get his bony ass kicked?

The glare Edge gave him would have curdled milk. Fortunately for Red he was too preoccupied to do anything more. "I will do as I wish to whichever doors I wish. Now, are they ready to fix Doomfanger?"

"Yes, sir!" Said Cupcake, standing up from behind the desk. "If you just come with me, I'll take you to the doctor right away."

"Very well." Edge said curtly, and followed her to disappear behind a plain wooden door.

Red slumped himself down bonelessly in one of the chairs, pleased to see it was as soft as it looked. This kind of stress was going to give him a heart attack one of these days. Time to lighten his mood.

"So, hey," he called, getting the attention of Sensible Scrubs. She looked up, surprised at being addressed, and he gestured to the door where Edge and Cupcake had gone. "So what was that all about?"

The girl blinked owlishly at him, obviously distressed. "What? What was what about?"

"The whole thing with you and Cupcake," he said, smiling. "The 'told you so' bit."

Sensible blushed fiercely, fear passing across her face at being caught. That was adorable. "I'm sorry, it was nothing. You weren't supposed to hear that."

He began to pick his gold tooth with a claw while he waited for her to elaborate. The girl blanched at the sight, but didn't continue.

Feeling his smile curl at the edges, he prompted, "Come on, now, I feel like the butt of a joke I ain't been let in on."

"No! Oh, no, no!" She said quickly, hands waving with denial in front of her. Red almost lost it right there, and could feel his bones shaking as he held in his laughter. "It wasn't anything bad, I swear!"

"Really?" He drawled. "'Cuz you're makin' it seem kinda bad, ya' know?"

She went even paler. On some level Red wondered if that was unhealthy. "R-Really! It's just- it's just that when you called, and you had a cat! It was named, well, Doomfanger. Cathy said with a name like that, she thought you might be a monster, and I..."

"Yeah? And you didn't think so?"

"I didn't think... that monsters had cats. I mean like, regular cats." Embarrassment radiated off her, and she stared down at the countertop.

Heh, that was cute.

The door to the back opened again, and Cupcake stuck her head out. "Mr. Sans? We could use you in the examination room. Please."

Oh Stars, it had probably been a bad idea to leave Edge alone with them, wasn't it? Shit, shit, shit. He leapt to his feet, practically running to the door.

Inside the little room, Dr. Ball, the guy from the internet, was waiting for him. Edge was sitting in a chair next to a small examination table, clutching Doomfanger to his chest. His breathing was strained, coming in a tightly controlled rhythm. The cat, content as ever in her owner's arms, purred loudly.

"Thanks for coming in, Mr. Sans," The veterinarian said. "I'm Dr. George Ball and-"

"Yeah, I know who you are." Red shot him a look. "What's going on in here?"

Although obviously taken aback by Red's hostility, he recovered quickly. "I'm afraid things aren't looking good for Doomfanger here," the doctor said. "She's showing signs of severe dehydration, and is mostly blind."

Red scowled. "Yeah? We already knew the cat was sick. What do we do about it?"

The doctor took a deep breath, taking a quick glance at Edge before continuing. "I'm afraid, because Doomfanger is so sick, and quite elderly, that there isn't a whole lot we can do. If we gave her IV fluids, and some medicine for the pain, you can take her home tonight. But this isn't a problem that can be solved, and she'll just continue to get sicker, and weaker." There was a pause. "You need to consider her quality of life. And whether it's worth it for her to continue like this."

"You mean, like... Puttin' her to sleep?" Red asked, and heard Edge suck in a quick, short breath.

"Anything else at this point would just be palliative care. She'd last a month, maybe two. Which is your choice to make, but I want you to be aware that she is suffering right now. We do offer euthanasia here, and the option of a peaceful sleep."

"...Yeah?" Damn, when Red woke up this morning, this was not how he thought his day was going to go. "Can I talk to my brother alone for a sec?"

"Of course." The doctor nodded, leaving out the door. Red caught sight of Cupcake, a concerned look on her face, before the door shut with a resounding click.

The tiny room seemed to shrink, the walls constricting around him. "Boss…?"

"She's been in so much pain, and I ignored it," Edge said suddenly, squeezing the cat even tighter. "I thought she'd get better, but she's not, and she's been suffering for it."

"Aw, Stars, it's not your fault-!" He reached out a hand, the wounded sound of his brother's voice clawing at his Soul.

"What should i do Sans? You heard the doctor. I don't want her to suffer any more." Suddenly Papyrus was six years old again, feeling the crushing unfairness of the universe. Looking up with big, bright eyes and asking, begging his older brother to help him make sense of it. To make it right.

"I…" Red froze. Honesty. He needed to be honest. He pulled his hand back, shifting uncomfortably on his heels. Fuck this big brother shit. "I think you should let her go." 

Red was weak. It was something he'd always known. Time hadn't changed that. He stared down at the ground, unwilling to watch the hope die in his brother's sockets again.

But he still heard it.

The single, quiet sob that escaped Edge held the sound of a Soul cracking. Red squeezed his eyesockets shut, shuddering at the noise that no physical blow could ever inflict.

Fuck. He was a shit brother, wasn't he?

"I'm sorry, Papyrus."

There was silence in the room, nothing but the ragged sound of Edge's nearly silent crying and the continued deep rumble of Doomfanger's purr.

There was a knock at the door. 

"J-just a sec!" Red called, reflexively looking towards the sound. He saw Edge then, his face pressed into Doomfanger's side, the soft fur now matted and wet with red magic.

Red couldn't help him. Stars be damned, he was failing him again.

"…you're right," Edge whispered, "but, I don't… want to. But I will. For her."

Red didn't know what to do. There was nothing else he could do here. He had to get out of there. "…Ok, bro. Look, I'm- I'm gonna head out there, talk to the doc for a sec. I'm sure there's more paperwork. You, uh, you gonna be ok?"

Edge looked at him then, and Red saw betrayal in his eyes. He knew Red was running. Leaving him. Again.

As Edge dropped his eyelights back down to his cat, Red felt the chilling sting of dismissal, and dissappointment. When he spoke, his voice was empty. "Just go."

His sins crawling on his back, Red fled from the room.

After telling the humans their decision, Red solemnly filled out Doomfanger's final paperwork. The doctor headed back into the room, and Cupcake followed a moment later.

It was silent in the lobby. Sensible didn't seem up for small talk, and Red didn't feel like antagonizing her anymore. He didn't want to sit in the chair either, its offered comfort now feeling like a deception. So he stood. And waited.

And waited.

Eventually the door opened again, and Edge stood tall in the doorframe. His arms were empty. Just looking at him, you never would have been able to tell that anything was ever wrong. He looked as strong and proud as he ever did, the perfect image of a Vice Captain of the Royal Guard.

Giving one last look around the room, his eyelights not even pausing as he looked over Red, Edge walked to the front door, and left.

"Well," Red sighed, turning to shoot his own final look at the nervous girl behind the desk. "Looks like you're the one who's right now. Ain't any monsters with regular cats anymore." The jingle of the bell rang mockingly as he shut the door behind him.

The last afternoon sunlight was dazzlingly bright, and Red had to sheild his eyesockets, searching for where he parked. He reached the car to find Edge already in the passenger seat, arms crossed against his chest. Guess Red was driving again. Not that he minded. He got inside, started the car and headed toward home.

Edge hadn't said a word. His body was tight, and Red thought he looked like he wanted to scream.

Red didn't want to ask. He really, really didn't want to know. But Edge looked just about ready to explode with tension, and the silent atmosphere was killing him. He needed to say something, anything. 

"So," Red began, impatiently tapping a claw against the shift knob. "What happened in there?"

Edge turned and looked out the window. All right then. Bad idea.

A few minutes passed in silence before Edge mumbled something under his breath.

"Huh? What'sat, Boss?"

"I said," Edge snarled at him, suddenly furious, "that she died in my arms!"

Red flinched back so hard he might have cracked a rib.

"You want to know so bad? I'll tell you! The doctor came in and he euthanized her while I held her! She was purring, Sans! Purring! She trusted me, and I KILLED her! It's MY fault she's- that she's…" He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"Shit! Stars, Boss- no!" Red sputtered, pulling off the road. He threw the car into neutral and turned to his brother. "That ain't the least bit true, and you fuckin' know it!"

He knew that look in Edge's eyes. He knew his brother wanted to believe him, but after a lifetime of lies, and failure after failure, Edge didn't think he could. Red was the best at disappointment.

"How? How was it not my fault?"

"You wanted what was best for her, yeah?" Red drew in a shaky breath of his own, squeezing the steering wheel until he was worried it might snap. "And you said it yourself that she hadn't exactly been doin' well. She was hurtin' Paps, and she's not hurtin' anymore now. And it's thanks to you, not 'cuz of you. You always did what was best for her, even now."

Red took another breath, but found he didn't have anything else to say. 

"...Sans?" Papyrus asked quietly. "Could I have stopped this? If I had done something sooner? If I had made you call the vet sooner… would she be okay now?"

"I don't think so. I really don't. It's like the doctor said, she was an old lady. They can't live forever Pap. I'm sorry." Damn, it was so much easier to be snarky. He wasn't made for this heartfelt crap. "Let's go home."

"…Alright."

Red never understood why such terrible things always happened on such beautiful days.


End file.
